Heading for the lake

The second regatta of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2010 will take place over 29 April–4 May on Lake Traunsee, Austria. Organised by PROFS, the event will take place for the third consecutive time on this atypical sailing ground: a beautiful mountain lake surrounded by snow capped mountains and blessed (when things go well) by a pleasant thermal breeze.

The sailors involved in the RC 44 Championship Tour usually love this unusual regatta; although some of them fear it for conditions aren’t always as described in the tourist brochure. For example, last year’s regattas took place in bitterly cold weather and a couple of furious squalls hit the lake during racing, creating havoc and surprising the most experienced sailors including several Cape Horners…

Ten world Class teams will compete for the RC 44 Austria Cup, including all those that raced in Dubai in February. Artemis (Torbjorn Tornqvist / Terry Hutchinson) is currently leading the Championship Tour ahead of No Way Back (Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies), Team Sea Dubai (Markus Wieser), Team Aqua (Chris Bake / Cameron Appleton) and Ceeref (Igor Lah / Rod Davis). Markus Wieser’s team from the UAE won the first match race contest of the year, while Team Aqua grasped the fleet race title.

Absent from the circuit since September 2009 due to their America’s Cup commitments, several sailors will make their come back in Austria, including James Spithill, Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison. Coutts/Ellison will be back on their one-design BMW Oracle Racing (4th overall last year), while James Spithill will take the helm of a boat currently called Boat 17.

The flat water and sometimes tricky tactical conditions will be an interesting challenge for all the teams involved in the RC 44 Austria Cup. On great form in Dubai, with two victories in the fleet regatta, the local team Austria will be keen to perform in front of its public.